More Mark....

On this page we thought we would share some cool and unique things about Mark that some of you might not know:


* Mark is actually an award-winning author and in the 8th grade won first place in the National Young Author's Conference for a horror book he wrote called "Satan's Revenge" which had two short stories in it; "Equinox" and "The Cat". The book won first place in the "Horror & Science Fiction" category and was on display at Princeton University.


* Mark has written many books since then, including four books on American Indian artifacts and weapons; "The Mark Francis Collection of American Indian Art", "The Missouri War Axe: War Tomahawk of the Plains and Prairies" and "Rare American Indian Weapons" Volumes 1 and 2. Future book projects include one on Florida's venomous snakes and the other about the Poe Brothers and their famous fight with a Wyandot Indian chief along the Ohio River in the late 1700's.


* Speaking of American Indian history, Mark at one time had one of the largest collections of authentic tomahawks, war clubs, pipes, moccasins, knives and related artifacts in the world. He still maintains a respectable collection of material and is considered a leading authority on authentic American Indian weapons and consults for many auction gallery sales, museums and private collectors. He still regularly attends several artifact and relic shows around the country and occasionally has a booth at one or two of the shows. If you happen to see him out and about, please come up and say hello!


* Mark is an avid four wheeler and trail rider and grew up a Jeep fanatic. Mark has owned a total of 6 Jeeps over the years and still claims the old 1978-79 CJ5's to be his favorites. He currently has a 2001 Wrangler TJ Sahara with 33 inch mud tires, a six inch lift kit and custom suspension and uses it on a regular basis for excursions into the Everglades, Big Cypress Preserve, Fakahatchee Strand, Picayune Forest and other south Florida swamps and forests where he is involved in wildlife research and conservation programs on the endangered Florida panther and the Eastern diamondback rattlesnake.


* Speaking of snakes, Mark is a venomous snake afficonado and founded the Eastern Diamondback Research Coalition to further the study and conservation of the species in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.


* Mark was cast in the 1992 movie "Werewolves" as one of the lead characters and was looking forward to production when the film suddenly lost funding from the studio and the project shut down. The same happened when he was cast in the role of criminal thug John Baxter in the 1993 film "The Heat is On". Other small parts, extra and walk on rolls have followed and he is still listed with Central Casting for television and film work. He is curently in talks with a major cable network regarding production of a wildlife show to be filmed in the Florida Everglades in 2019. In the fall of 2018 Mark was cast in the independent film "Church Pew Secrets" playing the role of Special Ops operative Adam Parker, who gets killed in a drug house raid gone wrong. Mark has acted in several films in and televsion shows in the last few years, having worked for Warner Brothers Pictures, Oxygen Network, Paramount Pictures, HBO, Amazon Prime, Bad Clown Films and many others. He has had the privilage of working with many legendary and talented directors and producers including the Russo Brothers, Damian Chazelle, Martin Scorsese, Bud Cooper, and Shaka King. Apprearances include "Killers of the Flower Moon", "Cherry", "Babylon", "Judas and the Black Messiah" and others. He has acted alongside and in scenes with such Hollywood legends as Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Margot Robbie, Tobey Maguire, Jesse Plemmons, Robert DeNiro, Leonardo DiCaprio and many others.


* Originally a native of Cleveland, Ohio currently Mark lives at Everlades Manor, a sprawling Mediteranian style estate outside of Naples, Florida near the Everglades. Bears, panthers, foxes, bobcats and other unique wildlife frequent his property. Previously Mark lived in Los Angeles, California and in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for several years. His home there, the Mark Francis Marsh Estate, was recognized and awarded by the state of South Carolina for beauty, aesthetics and environmental conservation under the "Carolina Yards" program. It boasted extensive gardens full of rare plants and dozens of hummingbirds every season. Mark designed and built a 30 ft x 40 ft koi fish and turtle pond with 3 waterfalls and an island. All of the fish and turtles were trained and knew their names and would come when called. 


* As you probably can guess, Mark is an avid gardener and enjoys working on his property and has extenisve gardens and lush, tropical flora on his estate with many rare and unique species such lemon, lime and orange trees, different species of orchids and bromeliads, blueberries and blackberries, banana trees, and carnivorous pitcher plants and venus flytraps.


* Mark's favorite color is black, although he states blue is a close runner-up. He loves Mexican, Italian and Chinese food and always says the best thing for his voice before a show is "some salty pretzels and a Coca Cola"!


* Mark does not drink alchohol, has never tried any kind of drugs and is not marijuana friendly. He says "I guess everybody has the right to enjoy themselves however they feel, but for me personally, I just never understood how being stoned or drunk is any kind of a good time".


* Although from Cleveland, Ohio Mark is not a Browns fan and actually is not a sports fan in any capacity. He's a proud Christian, a staunch Republican and ultra conservative. He says he believes in "the American dream, which to me, is working hard and getting rewarded for it. The American dream means something different for everybody, and that's ok.. it's what makes this country great".


* Mark's favorite hobbies and passtimes include swimming, boating, hiking, trail riding, shooting (yes, as you can guess, Mark is a gun fanatic and owns a lot of guns), gardening, and spending quality time with his friends and family. He spends a lot of his free time out in the swamps of south Florida conducting panther and rattlesnake research whenever possible. 


* Mark can sometimes be seen out in the Everglades or the Ten Thousand Islands area in his 20 foot Carolina Skiff, the "Island Explorer" doing just that.


* Mark has been written about in publications such as People Magazine, Froniters of Science, Fate Magazine, the National Enquirer, Strange Magazine, Full Throttle Magazine, Biker, Easyriders, the National Examiner as well as countless music and guitar publications which still mention him from time to time. He has appeared on such shows as the Fox 8 Morning Show, Good Morning America, the Today Show, and others. In August of 1988, standing in a swamp in South Carolina, he appeared on CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, and has the distinction of being one of the only people to ever cause the normally stoic Rather to crack a grin and giggle.


* Mark has been involved in philathropic and charity work since the mid 1980's at the Pine Ridge Sioux Indian reservation in South Dakota as well as other Indian reservations in Wyoming, Montana, and Oklahoma, aiding in projects for clean water, safe living spaces, hot meals and education. He has contibuted hundreds of thousands of dollars to several Indian schools and colleges and has been awarded for his efforts. He has also participated in raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the American Cancer Society, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation of America.


* In fact, Mark is a history buff, particularly Native American history and is an Osage and Sioux historian and scholar of legendary war Chief Crazy Horse. As Aunt Sis used to say "Maybe it's the Indian in me"... Mark has some Osage and Cherokee blood in him with family at the Osage Reservation at Pawhuska, where he also owns 12 cares in the Osage Hills area. The family name Twigger can actually be traced to the U.K. to the Island of Wales off the coast of Great Britain to a line of aristocracy and family estate called Stratfordshire Castle.


* Mark is an avid horror movie buff and loves all the old classic black and white films like the original Dracula, Frankenstein and Wolfman films. He's also a big fan of the original Sherlock Holmes films featuring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.


* Mark's birthday is March 6th, he's a Picses, not a Scorpio like many think because of the scorpion tattoo on his upper left arm. Many people ask about the Native American tattoo on his upper right arm and what the writing means. It is actually written in Lakota Sioux and says "In honor of the great Lakota warrior Crazy Horse".


                            20 Questions with Mark:


Favorite songs: "Green Grass and High Tides", "That Smell", "Hallowed be Thy Name", "Caught up in You".

Favorite bands: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Iron Maiden, .38 Special, UFO, Deep Purple, the Cult

Favorite guitarists: Michael Schenker, Allen Collins, Ritchie Blackmore, Randy Rhoads,  Tony Iommi, Dave Hlubek, Ted Nugent, Joe Perry, Neil Geraldo, Neil Shon

Favorite singing guitarists: Don Barnes, Paul Stanley, John Fogerty, Rickey Medlocke, Prince

Favorite bassists: Steve Harris, Geezer Butler, Tim Lindsey, Larry Graham from Sly & the family Stone, Rudy Sarzo. 

Favorite singing bassists: Glen Hughes, Jack Blades from Night Ranger, Jack Bruce from Cream, Peter Cetera from Chicago, Michael Anthony, Fred Turner from B.T.O.

Favorite drummers: Cozy Powell, Niko McBrain, Tommy Lee, Tommy Aldridge, Kenny Aronoff

Favorite Keyboardists: Jon Lord, Don Airey, John Galvin, Billy Powell, Stevie Fingers

Favorite male singers: Ronnie VanZant, Bruce Dickinson, Johnny VanZant, Lou Gramm, Ronnie James Dio, Gordon Lightfoot, Danny Joe Brown, Sammy Hagar 

Favorite female singers: Annie Wilson, Pat Benatar, Dale Krantz-Rossington, Amy Lee from Evanescence, Stevie Nicks, Doro Pesch 

Favorite cities: Cleveland, Myrtle Beach, Las Vegas, New Orleans, any place in the great state of Florida

Favorite venues to play: Madison Square Garden, Red Rocks Amphitheater, Full Throttle Saloon at Sturgis, Blossom Music Center

Favorite vacation spot: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and the Black Hills of South Dakota

Favorite beverages: Ice cold Coca Cola, lemonade, ice water

Three albums you couldn't live without if you were stranded on an island for the rest of your life: Lynyrd Skynyrd's "One More From the Road", Iron Maiden's "Number of the Beast" and The Eagle's "Greatest Hits"

Favorite piece of gear: My 1978 Mark Cameron Modded 100 Watt Marshall JMP head

Three historical figures I wish I could meet, dead or alive: Sioux Chief Crazy Horse, Ronnie VanZant, Jack Nicholson

Favorite actors: Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Jack Nicholson, Burt Reynolds, Al Pacino, John Candy

Favorite actresses: Jennifer Aniston, Jane Seymour, Gina Gershon, Bette Davis

Favorite movies you could watch over and over again: Legends of the Fall, Forest Gump, Interview with the Vampire, As Good as it Gets, Along Came Polly, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, Boogie Nights

Favorite TV shows: Andy Griffith, Sanford & Son, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy 

One thing you could change about the world: Certainly end so much of the violence with young people that's ripping this nation apart. End the drug abuse and violence with young people


           Ok, so it was a little more than 20.... a little more Mark later on.........